Improved fire-escape



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES J. JONES AND EMMA W.' JONES, OF NEW BRIGHTON, NEW YORK.

|MPRovi-:D FIREESCAPE.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 50,596, dated October'24, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Rev. CHARLES J. J oNEs and EMMA W. JONES, of NewBrighton, in the county of Richmond and State of New York, have inventeda new and Improved Fire- Escape; and we do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which willenable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of thisinvention, showing its application to a building. Fig. 2 is a verticalsection of the same, the line x Fig. 1, indicating the plane of section.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

This invention relates to certain improvements in that .class offire-escapes which are composed of a series of steps arranged so thatthe same can be folded up and stowed away in a comparatively small spacewhen not used, and when they are to be used they are thrown out ot' thewindow, the upper end being secured inside the building, and the steps,in falling down, arrange themselves in the proper position and form aladder, by means of which persons from a burning building can escape.

The peculiarities of our tire-escape and its advantages will be readilyunderstood from the following description.

A represents a ladder composed of a series of frames, B, which are madeof sheet metal, or which may be cast or made of any suitable material.The several frames are connected by links a, so that they can be foldedup, it' desired, and each frame contains two (more or less) steps, b,which swing on rods c, so that they can be turned up flat against theframe or out at right angles with the same, as shown iu the drawings. Inorder to hold the steps in position when the same are turned out atright angles to the frames, the ends of the rods c are bent to formsteps d, which, by coming in contact with the surface ot' the frame,prevent the steps from turning down any farther than desirable. When thefram es are unfolded, as shown in the drawings, the steps turn outspontaneously, and a sort of a banister is formed by ropes e, which aredrawn through arms f, secured to the edges of the frames at properintervals. Said arms are hinged, so that they turn up when the framesare uufolded or in when the frames are folded.

The upper ends of the ropes e are secured to arms g, which are hinged tothe inside of a window, so that the same turn up to the position shownin the drawings when the ladder is to be used, or down into the box O,which incloses the ladder, when it is not used.

The upper end of the ladder is secured to ropes or chains h, which arefastened inside the boX O, and its lower end is provided with guy-ropest', by means of which the ladder can be pulled oft' from the wall if thelower part of the building should be on re, so that persons passing downover the ladder are not injured.

The box O is secured inside the building next to a window, and it may beso arranged that its top forms a seat with a cushion, and the wholedevice is au ornament for the room in which it is situated. A basket, D,may also be placed in this box to save small children or valuables.

This ladder is easily made. All its parts can be cast of iron or stampedout of sheet metal, if desired, and when it is not used it folds up in acomparatively small compass. When it is thrown out ofthe window thesteps and banisters arrange themselves iu the desired position, and aladder is obtained over which the most timid persons can Ieadily descend. The steps are broad and form a good hold for the feet, and bymeans of the banisters persons descending are enabled to steadythemselves the same as on ordinary stairs.

When properly arranged this ladderjs not liable to get out of order. Itcan be stowed away iu the box O, where it is out ot the way and still onhand iu case of an emergency, and in cases of sudden coniiagrations itwill be the means to save many lives of persons who, without such anescape, would perish in the flames, and of valuable articles whichotherwise could not be removed.

Having thus described our invention,` we claim as new and desire tosecure byLetters Patent- A ladder composed of a series of frames, B,each containing one ormore folding steps, b, provided with suitablestops, in combination with links a and banisters e, constructed andoperating substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

OHAS. J. JONES. EMMA W. JONES.

Witnesses:

WM. DEAN OVERELL, M. M. LIVINGSTON.

